YEAR IN REVIEW: Protests, progress, petitions and people in Somerville

Thursday

Dec 27, 2018 at 9:13 AM

It’s been a busy year in Somerville, from politically charged rallies to new businesses and developments making a splash, to ground finally being broken on the GLX. As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in the New Year, here is a look back at some of the stories that made headlines in the Somerville Journal and online at Wicked Local Somerville.

Somerville students protest gun violence

Perhaps our biggest story of the year came early on, back in February, when hundreds of students walked out of Somerville High School to protest gun violence and advocate for more gun reform.

At 8:17 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, students sat on the sidewalk near Highland Avenue for a 17-minute moment of silence to honor the 17 lives lost during the recent mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

The students followed in the footsteps of fellow teenagers like Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, who led the fight for stricter gun laws and reform.

Co-organizer of the newly-formed “Students Against Gun Violence” group at SHS Jack Torres said he was thrilled with the number of students who participated.

“I’m so proud of all our classmates, of all the students that showed up today,” said Torres. “I think it really shows how serious we are, and that we won’t stop doing this. I’m really proud of everyone.”

Protesting Tufts’ tiered housing policy

Students again made their voices heard, this time on the Tufts campus.

On Thursday, Nov. 29, residents, students and city leaders marched to protest Tufts University’s new tiered housing policy.

“This is much bigger than tiered housing,” said Amira Al-Subaey, a student representing Tufts Student Action. “It’s about housing justice for students and for community members in Medford and Somerville.”

‘Change can’t wait’

In a major political upset, Ayanna Pressley became the first black woman ever elected to U.S. Congress from Massachusetts.

The Boston city councilor won the Democratic nomination for the Seventh Congressional District, beating out 10-term incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano of Somerville in the primary, before officially earning the seat in the general election in Novenmber.

“Are you ready to come to Congress with me?” she asked her supporters during her celebration speech on primary night. “Are you ready to bring change to Washington? Because for the families and victims of senseless gun violence, change can’t wait.”

Aldermen draft home rule petition for Right to First Refusal

As reported in March, the Somerville Board of Aldermen looked to implement a proposed state law that could have a major impact on the city’s housing market and its tenants.

The proposed bill, “An Act to Preserve Affordable Housing Through a Local Option Tenant’s Right to Purchase” sponsored by State Rep. Denise Provost, was first filed in January 2017 and would allow tenants to join together and purchase their residential building should the owner decide to sell.

Somerville aldermen met to discuss in the Legislative Matters Committee, where they began drafting a home rule petition.

We also reported on the aldermen voting in favor of a moratorium on recreational marijuana.

During the 2016 election, Somerville voted in favor of recreational marijuana, garnering a total of 70 percent of votes.

“This is definitely something that citizens in Somerville are clearly passionate about and want done,” said resident TJ Buckley. “We want Somerville to be a leader here as far as progressive policies in recreational marijuana zoning.”

New zoning in Somerville revives old debate on density

On March 13, the city held a public hearing on the citywide zoning overhaul, and if passed, the zoning would sharply limit the number of new units that can be built in neighborhoods going forward.

For all new construction, the proposed zoning placed a hard limit of two units for districts zoned “neighborhood residential.” Under the proposed zoning, a single-family house could be converted to two-family via special permit, but a brand new three-family could not be built anywhere in the neighborhood districts.

Somerville, Cambridge and Medford break ground on the GLX

Early on this summer saw a day many had waited for for a long time: State and local officials gathered in Union Square to celebrate the official groundbreakng of the Green Line Extension Project.

“The Green Line Extension will improve access to education, housing and job opportunities across the entire MTBA system,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “Our administration is grateful for the collaboration and support we have received from Secretary Chao and all partners at the federal, state and local level to reach this milestone and begin a project that will have a transformational impact on this region of the commonwealth by accommodating riders and spurring economic growth.”

Ordinance introduced to ban plastic straws and stirrers

Roughly two years after the city placed a ban on plastic bag usage, the Board of Aldermen took additional steps to reduce the amount of plastic used in the city of Somerville.

The Board’s Open Space, Environment, and Energy Committee introduced an ordinance to ban plastic straws and stirrers on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

“The amount of plastic generated is having a major impact on the oceans,” Alderman Will Mbah said. “Plastic straws are one of the top ten items found in beach cleanup. If there is no change, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.”

Somerville eateries named to Boston magazine’s ‘Top 50’ list

The Somerville food scene continued to prove it's up-and-coming, with six restaurants named to Boston magazine’s “Top 50 Restaurants.”

According to Boston magazine food editor Scott Kearnan, this round-up is “a reflection of the accelerating rate of culinary innovation in a rapidly evolving city.”

Somerville had two restaurants in the top 5 of this list: Tasting Counter in third place, and Sarma in fourth.

Somerville toddler attends Speak Now for Kids rally in D.C.

Just by watching Mae Koslow-Vogel, it is hard to imagine the dark-haired, large-eyed whirlwind of 2 1/2-year-old energy, not too long ago, living in a 24-hour a day intensive care unit, or undergoing a double lung transplant, or even advocating for health care in Washington, D.C.

But that was the incredible start of Mae’s life as the second daughter of two Somerville residents, Maura and Courtney Koslow-Vogel.

We took a look at Mae’s journey, including how she attended the Speak Now for Kids rally in D.C., where she became instant friends with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

District exploring ‘blizzard bags’ option

In January, Melrose schools adopted a pilot program changing the policy for snow days, replacing makeup days in case of cancellation with remote assignments. The city became the third community in the area to try a “blizzard bags” policy, behind Burlington and Wakefield.

Last winter, with five snow days already on the books, Somerville Public Schools began to look into implementing a similar program in the city.

In an email to the Journal, Superintendent Mary Skipper said the district is in the very early stages of looking at blizzard bags with the School Committee. Once they decide if this raises enough interest to pursue, she added, SPS will bring parents and teachers into the discussion.

“We want to be thorough and thoughtful in gathering information, and to fully understand the best way to utilize this type of resource in an equitable way before deciding whether it’s something we can move forward on or not,” Skipper wrote.

‘Tufts doesn’t pay its fair share in Somerville’

Early in the year Jane Regan penned an Op-Ed where she claimed Tufts University -- which makes "payments in lieu of taxes" (PILOT) payments every year, sending $275,000 into the city coffers, and also provides other services like some tutoring and access to playing fields -- was not “pulling its weight.’

She looked at why Tufts gives Boston proportionally much more than this.

The Op-Ed was followed up with a response from Tufts, countering Regan’s assertions.

Somerville to continue testing at Conway Park

We looked at the City of Somerville officially closing Conway Playground and Field after consultants discovered lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination. At a community meeting this spring, consultants from Weston & Sampson said they found contaminants as a result of sampling soil in preparation for a new retainer wall.

Ahead of a number of field renovations throughout Somerville, the city asked consultants to look at the wall, which was starting to decay and tip over due to a lack of foundation, said vice president George Naslas.

Scarpelli goes for win #300

In October, we looked at George Scarpelli as he approached his 300th win with the Somerville boys soccer team. But Scarpelli wasn’t even aware of the milestone, instead focused on winning his team’s next game. No one knew at the time that their eventual 3-1 triumph over Revere was also Scarpelli’s 300th victory as a varsity soccer coach.

Planned Broadway Bridge closure sparks concerns from neighbors

With construction for the Green Line Extension underway, some Somerville residents were anticipating disruption from the planned closure of the Broadway Bridge.

Dozens of residents and elected officials voiced their concerns at a July 18 Green Line Extension community meeting. Officials from the MBTA and the project’s contractor briefed attendees on the progress of the project, which has faced decades of delays but is now on track to open by late 2021.

Eventually certain bridge closures were pushed back, and the issue will undoubtedly be a major point of interest in the New Year.

PorchFest comes to Somerville

It was that time of year — the sun was slowly poking out after a long winter, the weather was getting warmer and warmer, and dozens of bands were about to flood into the city, ready for the annual PorchFest celebration.

We took a look at the show, previewing certain acts that were slated to perform, and followed it up with complete coverage, including a run-down of performers and a photo gallery.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR

These were just some of the issues we tackled in 2018. For complete coverage of the goings on in the city during 2019, visit wickedlocalsomerville.com and check out the pages of the Somerville Journal each Thursday.